Cosmo China Magazine translation

Cosmo China translation
Wentworth Miller: Man We Love

Preface
Wentworth Miller: You got to run in the right direction

We should thank Chinese Brand Me & City. If Me & City hadn’t invited Wentworth Miller as their spokesperson, we wouldn’t have had such an opportunity to “scream” to him.Yes, wherever he is, right now he has one identity in the world: the handsome man in Prison Break, Michael Scofield. How long could a man take to pursuit his dream without giving up? How long could a man have to wait before question himself whether he made a wrong decision? Wentworth Miller spent almost 10 years to wait and to insist on what he wants. Just like his character, Michael Scofield, he believes in his objective and pursuit it without hesitation, without caring much about rules and conventions. He is smart and confident. In fact, it is not that difficult for a smart and handsome man to win the “scream” from women all around the world if he is given the opportunity to get his face out there. Whereas, this man was annealed by God for ten years, he knows which direction he’s going to run, if he wants.

Interview

Cosmo: Do you want to be a hero like Michael?
Miller: Michael has a heroic charisma. He is very brave and loyal. I admire these qualities that he has, and I want to have these qualities, but in the meantime, Michael is torn between a hero and a crazy. Along with the plot, his heroic quality is fuzzy. I think that is the exciting part about the show. Nobody is really good or bad. Everyone seems in-between. You can’t really tell his difference from other criminals now at this point. To be honest, I don’t want this fuzziness happened on me.

Cosmo: Can acting help you to find a new aspect about yourself?
Miller: yes, I have this sort of feeling. Being an actor is self-challenging, to act inappropriately. In real life, we all have self control, but it is safe in front of camera to cry, laugh, and do something extreme without holding back your emotion. Those things that you can’t express in your daily life can be let out in acting. Some actors may tell you that you must forget about yourself when you are acting, but for me, acting is about finding myself. You exhibit the one that you usually don’t want to exhibit or the one that is inhibited by the real life situation. I think the lesson I learn from being an actor is how a middle-class young man abandons middle-class stereotype mode of thinking and acting, because we have always been told what is appropriate and what is not in our life. I think all of us should have a chance to indulge for a while. Why don’t use this chance to make some money?

Cosmo: Do you feel be trapped for playing the same character for years?
Miller: This could be a challenge. has a great influence on me, because Sam Waterston is my model. He plays the same character very well over the years. What moves me most is he proves that a TV show can be also as extraordinary as a movie. Being a lead actor in a hit TV show could be my great opportunity as well as a trap.

Cosmo: In a real life, do you have any impulse to break out any convention?
Miller: In fact, we all live in a certain “prison”, or in other words, we are all trapped in a box, constrained by a certain social character. I followed the rules all along my way, finished up my education in Princeton. It is not that easy for me to do some extreme acting like some other actors. My acting experience grows along with Michael. At first, he was a hero only with a brain. But later on, he needs not only his brain, but also his muscle. This is a big challenge for me. I’m proud of my progress.

Cosmo: what’s the reaction of your family to your acting and being famous?
Miller: They are, of course, very exciting about it. My mom watches the show every week. She doesn’t like Michael or anybody else gets hurt. It will upset her, so I have to call her before the show every week to warn her in advance. Yes, I tell her everything.

Cosmo: Do you worry about the future? What if there is no character coming along as good as Michael after the show is over?
Miller: I don’t worry about tomorrow, and I don’t worry about next week. I don’t plan my career step by step because you don’t know what’s gonna happen tomorrow. It’s meaningless to worry about something you can’t predict and control. The only thing you can do is to focus on what you are doing right now and try you best to make it perfect.

Cosmo: Do you feel be tied up by the down-side of being a well-known star?
Miller: You are not grateful if you complain. I don’t complain any down-side of being a star. I also don’t think Michael is a sexy icon. He doesn’t need to be sexy, neither do I. I will eventually say goodbye to Prison Break, say goodbye to Michael. When the time comes, I don’t wanna be looked only as a handsome guy. I will reinvent myself and show other aspects and skills of mine, such as being a producer, being a director, being a writer… I cannot show all of these by playing this character.

Cosmo: Do you want to be a writer? People in the industry say that a good show must have a good script. Do you want to be the person who can control the quality of a show?
Miller: Yes, I do. I think the real person who can control a show’s quality is not the actor, not the writer, not the director, but the editor. When the show is on, you can really feel the power of editing. I also want to be sitting in the editing room and control which scene I want to put in at which point, where I want to insert music, and which scene I want to make it become panoramic. This is the way how you tell a story. I am very interested in this creative control.

Cosmo: I heard that you wrote a romantic script?
Miller: Yes, I did. It’s called Stoker. It is a salute to Bram Stoker, the writer of Dracula. It has a component from the mysterious story of Dracula. This is a sad love story. He is just like all of us to look for love across space. He is a monster, yet wishes his lover to love all of him. However, there is always this blonde hero who appears and puts a stick into his chest and terminates the love he pursuits. I think this is really sad.

Cosmo: Sometimes you have to pretend that you are a fashion icon. What’s your experience? (lol, good question. )
Miller: When I get up in the morning, I definitely won’t think about how I’m going to be fashionable today. I never thought about being a fashion icon. But I think everybody should have their own symbolic style: being able to pick up the one suitable for you from many jackets, or pick up a unique pair of sunglasses, a watch. Let them become part of you. I think in that way you will have you own unique fashion. I am willing to share my method with you—clever and affordable.Interview

Postscript (personally, I like this little piece of postscript very much. Went is such a sweetheart.)

Wentworth Miller showed up at the shooting point one hour earlier than the originally scheduled interview time, which made all staff hurry-scurry for a moment, because they were used to the lateness of other stars and didn’t expect this. When he wants to drink water, he will offer you one first. If there is only one bottle of water left, he definitely will let ladies have it. He ate the working package lunch with everybody else

[translator note: very simple working lunch, 8RMB (1USD) per box, usually has rice and two or three ordinary Chinese dish, not fancy at all] and said it’s delicious. He also thinks the mini Shanghai dumplings are amazing.When we shot on the boat in the Huangpu River, he wasn’t sure whether the people holding cameras on the bank were all his fans, but he kept waving his hands. He doesn’t want to disregard anyone. While shooting, he was slightly embarrassed and said: “I am not a model. I don’t know many poses.” The photographer didn’t mind it at all because every angle of his is just handsome and perfect.]

Info credit: CaptWentworth (fallinblue) as posted on Ex (thanks as usual)